False evidence

Chapter 136 Case Reenactment
“That’s true.” Gao He nodded, raising an eyebrow at me: “You came, what do you want to see?”

I said, "Since Zhang Xuan was injured in the attic, let's take a look at the attic first."

Jiang Banxia led me to the corner of the stairs, pointed to the steps above, and said, "To be precise, she was injured in this spot. I received her call that afternoon, and all I heard her say was, 'Something happened.'"

When I arrived, she was unconscious in this spot. I remember she was upside down, her right hand clutching her phone; a floor lamp lay askew beside her left, which must have originally been placed in the attic next to the stairs and had been pulled down during the incident.

Gao He grinned: "These steps weren't carpeted either. No wonder someone would be so badly injured if they fell backwards from them. Did you come and clean them up afterwards?"

Jiang Banxia said, "I cleaned it up. When Zhang Xuan woke up, she asked me to take care of her cat; she said she stepped on something and accidentally fell, but I still brought two criminal investigation colleagues with me that day."

At the time, Lin and the others believed it was an accident.

Zhang Xuan was electrocuted because she instinctively grabbed the power cord of a floor lamp when she fell. A section of the cord was exposed, which Lin Ge said was from a cat bite. He even joked at the time that if it were murder, the cat would be the culprit.

Gao He asked me, "Is there anything else you want to see?"

"Let's see what really happened back then."

I took off my backpack, put it on the ground, and unzipped it.

A cat's head, which was yellow, black, and white, popped out.

I stroked the cat's head and said softly, "I want to know how you did it back then."

"Meow!"

The old cat crawled out of the backpack and slowly climbed up to the attic.

A short while later, a rustling sound was heard, and a white wire emerged from the handrail above.

Jiang Banxia's breathing quickened, and she pointed to the part wrapped with insulating tape in the middle, saying, "It's here, I wrapped the tape!"

Gao He's eyes darted around unusually (at least I'd never seen them dart around like that before), and he asked, "Did Lao Lin say that Zhang Xuan stepped on something?"

“Yes, it’s a white marker. It’s been stepped on and I threw it away!” Jiang Banxia said.

Gao He nodded as he looked at the steps: "A white pen placed on a beige tile is not easy to spot if the light is dim or if someone is distracted and not paying attention."

We waited a while, and the old cat reappeared at the top of the stairs, but it didn't bring anything back.

"Meow!"

Gao clicked his tongue. "It seems there isn't a second suitable pen."

"No, it should mean we go up."

As soon as I opened my mouth, the old cat meowed again.

"It's amazing!"

Gao He said something, then went upstairs with his hands behind his back.

I followed them up and took a quick look. The attic wasn't divided into rooms; instead, it was designed as an open-plan painting studio.

Besides the paintings on the wall and a sofa in the corner for resting, the most eye-catching thing is the easel and the various paintbrushes next to it.

“Isn’t this a ready-made ‘tool’?” Gao He turned to look at me.

I didn't say anything, but followed the old cat to the sofa.

The old cat lay on the floor, scratched the bottom of the sofa twice with its front paws, then turned around and meowed at me again.

I asked Jiang Banxia, ​​"Was this supposed to be like this?"

"Pretty much. I saw it was a bit messy that day, so I tidied it up a bit."

Gao He walked over to me and asked, "Did you move the sofa?"

"I moved in a bit."

Gao nodded, then bent down and dragged the sofa outwards a bit. I walked to the wall and immediately saw something behind the sofa.

I took the thing out; it was a very small voice recorder.

"Shh!"

Gao He suddenly gestured for us to be quiet.

At that moment, Jiang Banxia and I also heard the sound of a door opening downstairs.

The top floor was already quiet, and the three people and the cat remained silent, making the noise below even more audible.

Hearing the sound of shoes being changed, Gao Hegan opened his mouth but didn't say anything: "Your 'new boyfriend' is back."

He then gestured to me and Jiang Banxia, ​​and tiptoed towards the stairwell.

I originally intended to hand him the voice recorder, but upon seeing this, I held it in my hand with one hand to tighten it, intending to hold it more securely. However, I accidentally touched the touch switch.

The volume of the recorder was probably turned up to the maximum. Before I even realized what was happening, I heard a mixture of male and female voices coming from my hand.

Gao glared at me fiercely and tried to rush downstairs, but after running a few steps, he stopped there and didn't move.

Jiang Banxia and I hurried over and immediately understood why he was standing there.

At the corner of the stairs, a man and Gao He, one above the other, came face to face.

Gao He made a funny face: "Oh, the family patriarch is back!"

The man realized what was happening, straightened up, took a step back, and said coldly:

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"

At that moment, I could see his face clearly, and a series of images flashed through my mind.

Gao He turned his head and pointed at the recorder in my hand: "Could you turn that piece of junk off first?"

I turned off the recorder and looked at the man below, overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

The man took out his phone, dialed a number, and said to us sternly:

“From now on, whatever happens here will be heard by my police friends, and there are security cameras in the living room. If you’re not stupid, you know what to do, right?”

Gao He rubbed his nose and said as he went downstairs, "I really want to chat with your policeman friend for a bit and see how well we know each other."

"You are police officers..."

The other person had barely asked a question when Gao grabbed the back of the neck and shoved them downstairs.

Upon entering the living room, Gao He glanced at the slippers on his feet and showed his identification:
"We are police officers, and also friends of the homeowner. Now, it's your turn to introduce yourself."

The other party seemed visibly relieved, "I thought you were burglars!"

He extended his right hand to Gao He, "Hello, my name is Zhang Xuan, Xuan as in 'imposing and dignified,' and I am Zhang Xuan's cousin."

“A magnificent and imposing figure…” Gao He nodded, “It really wasn’t a bad name.”

This man, who called himself Zhang Xuan, was around thirty years old, about 1.8 meters tall, with a square face, a strong physique, and regular features. He truly deserved the description of "imposing and dignified".

Gao He didn't react aggressively again. He simply sat down on the sofa, his face calm, and asked the other party a few more questions.

During this time, through Zhang Xuan's facial expressions, I finally saw what I wanted to see...

After answering a question, Zhang Xuan suddenly pointed at Jiang Banxia:
"Oh right, I remember now, you really are Xiaoxuan's friend. I've seen your photo on her phone. You're a forensic doctor, right?"

Before Jiang Banxia could answer, I said to Gao He, "Captain Gao, this trip has yielded unexpected results. You can now formally file a case and call for backup."

(End of this chapter)